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Engine problem, transformer cause outages
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Posted on Nov 12 2006
An electrical problem on Power Engine No. 1 and a busted transformer caused power outages Saturday in some areas on Saipan.
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. spokesperson Pamela Mathis said in an interview with Saipan Tribune yesterday that, since Engine No. 8 is running on reduced megawatts, unit No. 1 was brought partially online on Friday.
Mathis said Engine No. 1, however, had some electrical problems so it was shut down for several hours when CUC worked on it Saturday.
The problem caused a power outage for two hours Saturday night on feeder four—in Sadog Tasi, Capital Hill, As Teo, and Kagman.
“So they’re still doing maintenance [work] on both engines [8 and 1] but they are partially running,” Mathis said.
The CUC spokesperson also disclosed that there was a blackout in the Susupe and San Jose areas early Saturday because of a busted power transformer near the Attorney General’s Office’s Criminal Division.
“It [transformer] blew out. When a transformer goes, it makes a loud sound. …The oil causes the lid to loosen up and so the lid comes out,” she explained.
Mathis said it took about half an hour for the CUC crew to isolate the problem because there was no work at that time and so no one reported it.
“The men had to go pole by pole to try to find the problem. And they finally found it. They then turned the power back on…. It goes from San Jose, Susupe, down to Chalan Kanoa on Beach Road,” she said.
Starting Oct. 30, CUC lifted the blackout rotation that the utility agency had been implementing on the island in the past few months.
CUC deputy director Patrick Deleon Guerrero, however, earlier told Saipan Tribune that there are still maintenance issues at the power plants and if Engine No. 8 begins to overheat or for whatever reason then CUC may still implement load shedding.
Last Wednesday, two generators at the power plant in Lower Base malfunctioned, prompting CUC to turn off two electrical grids to compensate for the loss of generation.
As a result, the utility agency again implemented outage rotation that day in many areas.
